The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Click.

The moment the phone call ended, Godfrey’s front door swung open again.

Vivienne glanced down at the huddled Martinez family by the doorway; her lips pursed into a slight smile. “Mr. Martinez, such formalities are hardly necessary.”

“Everybody up, now!”

Stellan’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment as he glared at Leopold, sprawled out behind him.

A cluster of people awkwardly rose to their feet, their faces painted with awkwardness. “Uh, Ms. Hawthorn, we’re really grateful for your help. Please, stay for dinner to thank you for taking care of my father.”

Audrey, lounging on the sofa, glanced over and snorted disdainfully, then looked away, indifferent to whether Godfrey lived or died.

“Stellan, aren’t you even gonna ask?” But she couldn’t stand to see the Martinez family have it easy. “What if Ms. Hawthorn’s treatment kills Dad?”

Griffin’s retort was sharper, “Because we’re not blind, we can see with our own eyes. Unlike you, sitting there like a frog in a well!”

As soon as Vivienne entered the room, she used her silver needles to stabilize Godfrey, halting his convulsions. The rest of her methods were a mystery to them.

But through the open door, they could see Godfrey’s color improving under Vivienne’s care. Clearly, her treatment was working.

Ignoring Audrey’s sour expression, Griffin cuddled up to Vivienne. “You’re amazing, Vivienne. You’re my hero!”

Leopold beamed with pride at the compliments directed at Vivienne, more pleased than if they were for himself. “Of course, you’ve seen who Vivienne is with, right? Let me tell you, when it comes to medicine, there’s no one better than her.”

Percival raised an eyebrow. “Sucking up won’t help you. Remember, you’re paying for the scratch you put on my car.”

youngest junior, maybe we can forget about

“Remember to

hers, too. The car was barely a day old when Leopold’s impromptu stunt left a glaring scratch on it! God only knows the murderous rage she felt when stepping out

couple more treatments. This toxin is a new one, and we

seem quite familiar with this,” Stellan said, puzzled by her

truth. “My mother encountered the same issue yesterday. Luckily, someone was with her,

attack was solely targeting her mother. Turns out, it was a wider

heavy. The enemy lurked in the shadows while she stood in the light. This adversary was proving to be even trickier

Martinez, we have other matters today, so we’ll be taking our leave,” Vivienne said, preparing

if you’re confused, maybe look into the ancient warrior lineages. See if there’s a family known for using

is likely experimenting with a drug to control neural functions, which

her words. “You’re saying my father was

thought of that particular

subtly at Audrey, silent on the sofa. “Lancelot, let’s not jump to conclusions without

rest assured. This concerns my father, and I will investigate thoroughly. However, if he has another episode, we’ll still

said, “It’s no trouble at all. Now, if you’ll

“Huh?”

lightly. “What do you mean, ‘huh’? You wrecked Vivienne and Percival’s

them, I’ll take them. But why hit me? I only

ask me to pay for it. You were driving; you pay up. Surely, you’re going to say you can’t

“Who said I can’t?”

pride can’t be challenged, especially not in matters of finance

one car! Even if I wrecked all of Percival’s cars, I could

twitched. “You want to wreck

that. I was just… making an example, really, just an